World Bank gas pipeline Serbia: 175 million euros
Assistant minister Sasa Kokovic says Serbia's gas transmission pipeline averages 56 to 57 years old, and Banatski Dvor storage would grow from 450 to 750-800 million cubic meters.
The World Bank has approved a program to develop Serbia’s gas sector, and its first phase, worth 175 million euros (about 195.5 million dollars), addresses the bottleneck on the Trupale-Pojate section. Sasa Kokovic, assistant minister of mining and energy for oil and gas, spoke about it on October 9 on the “Jutro je” morning show on Radio Belgrade’s First Program.
What exactly does the World Bank program cover?
Kokovic tied the 175 million euros to the whole program, which he said is meant to renew existing infrastructure and build new routes. Available data on the loan itself tells a different story: the World Bank approved a gas sector development program of about 600 million dollars, planned over ten years, and the 175 million euros covers the first phase. Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic announced that a 175 million euro loan was approved for that phase.
The difference matters for storage and the link with Romania: Kokovic places them in later phases, so 175 million euros is not the price of those projects.
Kokovic said the average age of Serbia’s gas transmission system is 56 to 57 years. The first phase therefore starts on the Trupale to Pojate section, which, in his words, is the network’s bottleneck. Of the next steps he said:
“The next two phases, that is, phase two and phase three, will cover the extension of the pipeline from Pojate, that is, widening its diameter from Pojate to Velika Plana, new storage capacity, which is very important, and of course the link with Romania, a 150-kilometer part that would cover the section of the transmission pipeline from Mokrin, that is, Nakovo, through the underground storage facilities Banatski Dvor, ITB, and on to Pancevo and Belgrade.”
The statement does not say which section belongs to phase two and which to phase three, so they are not split here either.
How much could storage grow?
The Banatski Dvor storage site holds 450 million cubic meters, and a rise to 750 to 800 million is planned. Kokovic added that Serbia is ready for the coming winter, but that capacity is being expanded for greater security of supply.
New storage projects are also under consideration, among them ITB and Tilva. Together with them, total storage could reach 2 billion cubic meters, which, according to Kokovic, would fully cover basic consumption and imports. That is an estimate, not a decision. The same statement also mentions ITB as an underground storage site on the route toward Romania, so it is unclear how large the new facility would be.
What does supply in the south-to-north direction mean?
The second ministerial energy summit of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia was held this week in Belgrade. It was agreed that Romania will join the council in the future. Kokovic said:
“The Republic of Serbia has always had a north-to-south supply route. This is the first time we are talking about south-to-north supply.”
He explained that liquefied natural gas would arrive through the terminal near Alexandroupolis in Greece and travel across Greece and North Macedonia. He also recalled that the interconnector with Bulgaria went into operation at the end of 2024 and made it possible to bring in gas from Azerbaijan. Work on the interconnection with North Macedonia is expected to begin soon.
We reported on October 7 on the laying of the first five kilometers of the pipeline toward North Macedonia. The World Bank’s first phase is not tied to that route: it concerns the domestic network and the Trupale-Pojate section.
